“Open source technology has emerged as the catalyst for cloud innovation,” said Paul Cormier, president, Products and Technologies at Red Hat. “Cisco is a market leader in cloud infrastructure and integrated infrastructure, while Red Hat brings market leadership and deep domain expertise of open source and OpenStack. By combining our complementary strengths, Cisco and Red Hat have a unique opportunity to capitalise on this market disruption.”

The UCSO solution is expected to feature three offerings: a Starter Edition that enables quick and easy installation for enterprise private clouds; an Advanced Edition that enables rapid deployment and operation of large scale private clouds; and an Advanced ACI Edition delivering policy-driven infrastructure deployment and operation for large scale clouds by utilising Cisco ACI.

In addition to 24×7 product support on Cisco and Red Hat components, customers will also have an option to purchase Solution Support, which will provide global, 24×7 access to a team of cross-trained experts.

UCSO Starter Edition is expected to become generally available by the end of 2014. Qualified channel partners and Cisco Cloud Consulting Services will be able to facilitate the deployment of these solutions.

Partnership expansion

Having worked together successfully on unified computing and networking for years, Cisco and Red Hat will accelerate collaboration around three new areas: OpenStack, Application Centric Infrastructure and Intercloud. Together, Cisco and Red Hat aim to deliver a set of Intercloud-ready solutions designed to bring OpenStack to enterprise and service provider customers.

OpenStack: Cisco and Red Hat are working together to provide fully supported, certified platforms that deliver open source innovation and optimised functionality. The companies intend to collaborate to deliver validated architectures, a growing third-party ISV and IHV ecosystem, governance across clouds, and advanced services for lifecycle management of cloud solutions.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected. For ongoing news, please go to http://thenetwork.cisco.com.

About Red Hat

Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualisation technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco’s trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

Red Hat and Red Hat Enterprise Linux trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. The OpenStack mark is either a registered trademark/service mark or trademark/service mark of the OpenStack Foundation, in the United States and other countries, and is used with the OpenStack Foundation’s permission. We are not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by the OpenStack Foundation, or the OpenStack community.

Availability disclaimer: Many of the products and features described herein remain in varying stages of development and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. These products and features are subject to change at the sole discretion of Cisco and neither Cisco nor its suppliers will have any liability for delay in the delivery or failure to deliver any of the products or features set forth in this release.

Cisco’s Forward-Looking Statement

This release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, among others, statements regarding an expansion of the companies’ relationship, accelerating collaboration around OpenStack, Application Centric Infrastructure and Intercloud, and the companies’ unique opportunity to capitalise on market disruption that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including, among other things the ability of the companies to partner successfully, the ability to achieve expected benefits of the partnership, business and economic conditions and growth trends in the networking industry, our customer markets and various geographic regions; global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment; overall information technology spending; the growth and evolution of the Internet and levels of capital spending on Internet-based systems; variations in customer demand for products and services, including sales to the service provider market and other customer markets; the return on our investments and in certain geographical locations; increased competition in our product and service markets, including the data centre; dependence on the introduction and market acceptance of new product offerings and standards; rapid technological and market change; and other factors listed in Cisco’s most recent reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K filed on May 22, 2014 and September 10, 2013, respectively. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based on limited information currently available to Cisco, which is subject to change, and Cisco will not necessarily update the information.

Red Hat’s Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to delays or reductions in information technology spending; the effects of industry consolidation; the ability of Red Hat to compete effectively; the integration of acquisitions and the ability to market successfully acquired technologies and products; uncertainty and adverse results in litigation and related settlements; the inability to adequately protect Red Hat intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; the ability to deliver and stimulate demand for new products and technological innovations on a timely basis; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, Red Hat’s growth and international operations; fluctuations in exchange rates; and changes in and a dependence on key personnel, as well as other factors contained in Red Hat’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at ), including those found therein under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic and political conditions, governmental and public policy changes and the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Red Hat’s views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while Red Hat may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Red Hat specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Red Hat’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.